San Marino FA rants on Twitter over ‘rude’ ITV coverage of England thrashing

Fury: The San Marino FA went on a sustained Twitter rant (Picture: Twitter)

San Marino may be ranked the world’s worst international team, but they proved they are still a proud bunch after their official FA Twitter account ranted at ITV’s patronising coverage of the match against England.

But despite the ease of the rout, the San Marino Football Association was not happy at the disrespect shown by ITV, who were broadcasting the match live in the UK.

Prompting particular chagrin appeared to be host Adrian Chiles and pundits Gareth Southgate, Lee Dixon and Roy Keane – who mocked the principality’s status as Fifa’s 207th and lowest ranked team while also questioning whether they should even be allowed to compete.

The pundits also appeared to know very little about the opposition players – leading to a torrent of abuse from the official Twitter page.

‘ITV should think it more wisely while mocking San Marino. Shame on you ITV, this is just disgraceful,’ read the first tweet.

As the comments continued, the San Marino FA ramped up its fury and then opted to tweet ITV directly.

‘@itvfootball: Shame on you again!’ it said, before adding: ‘Stop patronising about our team San Marino @ITV, that is just sheer ignorance.’

The San Marino Twitter feed then went on to tweet the English FA’s official Twitter page, warning it of ITV’s coverage of the fixture: ‘@FA You should do something with this ITV’s arrogant, ignorant and rude comments and coverage about us, San Marino.’